Selvage loop forming device



NOV 27 1951 D. E. HOUGHTON sELvAGE LooP FORMING DEVICE Filed Aug. 51.A 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

y BY

ATTORNEYS Nov. 27, 1951 D. E. HOUGHTON SELVAGE LOOP FORMIN DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 3l, 1949V INVENTOR.' E'. Hb/cyon) l epd/1% Y TTORN EY S D. E. HOUGHTON SELVAGE LOOP FORMINGl DEVICE- Nov. 27, 1951 s sheets-Sheva*h 5 Filed Aug. 5l, 1949 K O T N E V N I W m'ez' @Wyman ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 27, 1951 SELVAGE LOOP FORMING DEVICE Daniel E. Houghton, Washington, D. C., assignor, by mesne assignments, to New York Wire Cloth Company, York, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application August 31, 1949, Serial No. 113,382

This invention relates to new improvements in looms and the art of weaving therewith. More particularly, it is concerned with selvage-forming devices for wire-cloth looms and the new methods of forming selvage during weaving.

Discussion of field of invention visions must be made for the formation of a satis- A factory selvage.

One method commonly employed for forming selvage Without use of extra ends is to use a pin, needle or some other loop-retaining member adjacent the selvage about which the filling is looped during the picking operation. These loopretaining members absorb the strain of the filling during the time when it is relatively high. Then, after the picking operation is completed or nearly completed, these members are withdrawn in order to permit the newly laid filling to be beatenup into the cloth.

Such selvage-forming devices are very widely used on wire cloth weaving looms, and various modifications are known which Aperform satisfactorily for substantially all speeds at which the machines have been though to be capable of operating. Thus, if one attempts to increase the rate of operation of such looms, it is soon found that a certain maximum rate of operation is reached which is limited by breakage of the filling as it is picked across the loom. This breakage generally occurs at the selvage loop pin and, apparently, is due to the fact that the strain imparted by acceleration of the shuttle exceeds the tensile strength of the filling at the point where it is bent around the pin. In other words, it has not heretofore been recognized that the method of selvage loop formation was a limiting factor in speed of operation of the looms and the speed at which these looms have been able to operate has been considered to be primarily limited to the threshold speed of filling breakage.

Objects A principal object of this invention is the provision of a new method for weaving with looms and the provision of new improvement in loom 6 Claims. (Cl. 139-195) structures making possible this new type of weaving operation. A

Further objects include:

(1) The provision of new loom structures which make possible higher rates of operation than has been possible heretofore for comparable looms, not incorporating the new improvements of this invention;

(2) The provision of new selvage-forming devices for wire-cloth looms;

(3) The provision of a new method for forming selvage in wire-cloth looms;

(4) The provision of a method for reducing the strain imparted to filling during the picking operation in wire-cloth looms;

(5) The provision of new loom attachments which make possible reduction in strain upon the filling during loom picking operations;

(6) The provision of new methods and apparatus particularly useful in the weaving of wire cloth.

Still further objects and the entire scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent fr-om the detailed description given hereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention. are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

General description These objects are accomplished according to the present invention by a new process of loomoperation in which the filling, after the beatingup operation, is passed back into the shed while a loop of a predetermined size is formed therein at a predetermined distance outside of the selvage. After the shuttle crossing the shed has passed its maximum speed and is slowing down, the pin holding the loop in the filling adi acent the selvage is withdrawn, so as to permit the selvage loop to draw closer in toward the warp. This causes the filling to be able to withstand greater strain when the shuttle is travelling at maximum acceleration. Then. as the shuttle continues. movement of the lop is arrested to form a second loop of predetermined size in the filling adiacent the selvage. Thereafter, the picking operation is completed, the newly laid filling is beaten into the cloth and the operation is repeated. The initial loop formed in the filling is larger in size than the final loop, so that contraction in loop size takes place simultaneously with inward movement of the peak of the loop.

The success of he present invention is due to the discovery that the lling will stand a more severe jerk (which occurs when shuttle is moving at maximum acceleration) if it is wrapped around a pin or large radius than .it will if wrapped around aY small pin. As a result, a way has now been provided by which the speed of operation of wire-cloth looms having selvage loop forming devices can be increased substantially before the threshold shuttle speed for breakage ofthe filling is reached.

Detailed description plished may be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which' Figure 1 is a side viewr of a portion of a wirecloth'V loom showing the new sewage-formingV devices of this invention mounted thereon".

Figure 2 is an end view of the loom shown" in Figurel, taken alongV the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side sectional view of theloom shown in Figure 1, taken along` the lineV 3-3 ofi Figure 2`.

Figure 4 is a side sectional view of these'lvageforming device of Figure l, takenalong the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a side'view partially in section and partially broken away ofthe selvage-forming device as shown in Figure 3 at anotherv stage of the weaving operation.

As will be apparent from`I the discussion of my invention given herein, it concerns only specific parts of looms, sor-that thedescription of my new structures and their association with the remainder of! the loom parts can be restricted to those portions of the loom to which these new improve-- ments pertain.

Referring in detail to Figures 1` and 2 of the drawings, the preferred new selvage devices of this invention consist fundamentally of a stand or supporting member 2, lever members 4' a-ndf 6 carried' by the stand 2, selvage loop forming pins 8 and-rI0 supported by the lever members 4l' and 6 respectively, and operators I 2v and I4 for moving the lever members i and 6.

The st'andl or supporting member 2y is fastened or attached'to the side frames I6 of the loom, such as by bolts I'I, between the lay I8- and support 2liA for the breast roll 22. i

As can be seen, the lever member 4 is fulcrumed at one end 24 to the stand 2 by being bolted to a bearing element 26rv on the stand. This situatesthe lever member 4 parallel to the ends 28'vand normal to the lay I8.

Similarly, the lever member' is fulcrumed on thefbearing element 36 to the stand 2*.

A spring member 32 urges the lever 4 down'- wardly so that when the operating member I2' is left free, the lever member I is forced down against the end 34 of the member I2 which thus serves as a stop means for the llever 4.

Similarly, lever 6 is provided with spring means' 36 whichfurges the lever 6 down against the stop member 38. n

Theoperating member or lever arm I2 is connect'ed to the lever 4Y through the link 40 which fastened at one end upon the bearing 42 carried by member I2V and, at the other end', to the bearing 44 carried bythe lever 4. Similarly, the lever member 6 is connected to its operating member I4 through the link 46 which is fastened.

at one end to the bearing element 48 on the member I4 and at the other end to the bearing member 56 on the lever 6.

The lay I 8 consists of the usual upper frame member 52, lower frame member 54 and reeds 56.V Attached to the lower frame 54 is an engagement plate 58 which carries a bevelled block 80. This block 66 is fastened to the. plate 58 by means of bolts 62 and is slotted so that the block may be adjusted in position relative to the plate 58. The block 60 may be made of any suitable material',` butisfpreferably constructed of plastic material oiV high impact strength which absorbs noise of operation of the selvage-forming device. k

The member I 2 is provided at its free end with roller Iilifor: engagement with the bevelled block 66, while the operating element I4 is provided at its free end with the bolt 66 Which may be iixed in position upon the member I4 by means of the `lock nut 68. y

Ascan be seenI by reference to Figure 4', the pins 8 and I0'- are-mounted upon the levers4l andi 6, soasto depend therefrom with the longitudinali' axis of the pins aligned in a plane which runspa-rall'elf to the lay and with the: rear edges 'Ht and I2 of the pins in line with the fell of the cloth. The pins' may be mounted upon their respective lever members inV any suitable fashion, but intheparticular form shown in the iigures, the pin IIIl is press tted' through a hole in` the lever 6,3- while. the pin 8' is fastened tothe lever, 4" by a machine screw 1.4" which passes throughA a hole in the lever.

As will be'observed, the outside. pinr 3i is larger in diameter than the inside pin I0., The selvage formingv device illustrated inthe drawings comprises only'a pair of pins; This is the.' preferred form of my new device,V but it should be ooi'ntl-zdv out that they may incorporateJ three or.v more pins, provided they are placed in substantial; alignment, as above. describedin connection with Figure 1', and: are arranged for independent movementas the. two pins 8 andi I0;

Description of operation With. particular reference to. Figures 3 to.-5,. the operation of. thedevice described above isas. fol` lows:

As. soon. as. theybeating-up operation is completed, and the. lay I8.is withdrawn.. the shuttle, not-shown, is movedinto the shed formedebetween. the ends. 28;V This iscarried out sov that. the. filling 1.6 passes from the fellY of the cloth around the; pin. 8,. forming. a loopinthe filling just outside. the. selvage. As, the shuttle. proceeds across. the 100111,. the lay I8 gradually. movesback toward; the fell of the. clothv and,.- in doing so, the. block. 6D. comes` in contact with. the. roller; 640i the Opferating. member I2.. Asthe backwardmovementof the lay proceeds, the member l2 is moved until. the. member l2v assumes .the position. shown. in. Figure 4.. This movementof member l2, causesV a4 correspondingl upward movement. in the.. lever 4. which carries the pin S-upwardly out of alignment with the pin I-Il and withdraws the pin'8. from;` the loop in the filling 16. The length ofthememf-v ber I2. and its. position relativev to the.. lay t8- is. designedso. that the movement thereof Ycarries the. pin 8 out of the loop in the lling aiter the shuttle has started to slow up, but before it reaches the end of its travel.

When the pin S is. withdrawn,A a slack in. the filling 'I6 results. This.' is taken up. byfurther movement. of the shuttle arid. lling until the i'lll.-` oz ing loops aboutthe smaller. pin I0.

The shuttle continues in movement across the shed to finish the picking operation. With the picking completed, the reeds must move forward to beat up the newly laid filling and, in order to permit this, the pin I0 is Withdrawn. This is accomplished by upper movement of the lever` 6 which is brought about by engagement of the bolt 66 with the plate 58 as the lay moves rearwardly. As can be seen, contact of the bolt 66 with the plate 58 causes the member i4 to pivot with the upper end thereof, moving toward the lay and forcing the lever 6 to pivot about bearing 30, through the link 46, so that the pir carrying end of the lever 6 raises upwardly and withdraws the pin l0 from the selvage loop.

With the pin l0 withdrawn, the lay completes the beating-up of the filling and then proceeds 4 forward again to reform the shed for the next picking operation. As the lay moves forward, the operating members I2 and i4 are released, dropping the levers 4 and 6 and realigning the pins 8 and I0 for the next picking operation. Thereafter, the process is repeated resulting in the formation of the cloth 'I8 which passes over the breast roll to the tension rolls and wind-up rolls (not shown).

The same operation of selvage formation takes place, alternately, at each side of the cloth during the weaving operation, and the general description above applies to the operation and apparatus of either side.

Modification and equivalents As has been mentioned above, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications can be made in the structures specifically described above and, it will be recognized that the new weaving operations disclosed herein can be accomplished by other means which are considerably different in structure than the specific selvage-forming devices described. One modification, mentioned above, is the use of three or more movable pins in the selvage-forming device. If desirable, a plurality of selvage loop forming pins or needles could be employed with other types of operating members, such as cams, or the like, or the pins can be operated by hand. Conversely, it would be possible to conduct my new method of selvage loop formation without use of pins or needles by using elements about which the filling could loop and which could be contracted during the picking operation to permit the change in size of loop to be brought about after which such contractable loop formers could be Withdrawn to permit the beating-up to take place.

As can be appreciated, the levers, their respective operating members and the stands can assume various shapes and design and still accomplish the method of this invention. Likewise, the particular manner by which the stand is mounted upon the loom is substantially unimportant to the invention provided that it is located so that the loop-forming pins are aligned with the fell of the cloth and adjacent the selvage.

Conclusion My invention, as described herein, provides a new method for weaving cloth made possible through a new type of selvage-forming operation. This new type of weaving operation permits looms, particularly wire-cloth looms, to be run at substantially increased speeds, due to the fact that my new method reduces the tendency of the filling to break as a result of the picking tension at high speeds of operation. While this new method can be accomplished generally with various forms of apparatus, it has been found to work very successfully on a preferred type of selvage-forming device utilizing the new principles of the invention as described herein.

I claim:

l. A selvage-forming device for looms comprising means for forming a selvage-loop of a predetermined size in a filling thread, means for forming a second loop of smaller diameter in the thread before the thread is beaten into the cloth, means co-ordinated with the passage of the thread across the shed of the loom to inactivate said first loop-forming means and allow said second loop-forming means to operate up the thread as the thread passes farther into the shed, and means for moving said rst and second loopforming means to permit the thread to be beaten into the cloth upon completion of the filling operation.

2. A selvage-forming device for looms comprising a pair of pins, one being smaller in diameter than the other, a stand member, a pair of lever members fulcrumed on said stand member, each of said pins being carried individually upon one of said lever members in alignment, stop means for preventing the points of the pins from descending below the level of alignment and means connected to said lever members for moving them upwardly to individually withdraw the respective pin carried thereby out of said alignment.

3. In a wire-cloth loom having a lay, and side frames, selvage-forming devices comprising a stand carried upon a side frame, a pair of lever members fulcrumed on said stand for movement in a plan normal to the lay, a pin carried upon a free end of each of said lever members, the inside pin being smaller in diameter than the other pin, means carried on said stand for engagement with the lay to move said large pincarrying lever member upwardly and stand-carried means for moving said small pin-carrying lever member upwardly upon engagement with the lay.

4. A selvage-forming device for wire-cloth looms comprising a stand adapted for attachment to a loom, a pair of pins, one pin being smaller in diameter than the other, a pair of lever members fulcrumed on said stand, each of said pins being carried individually by one of said lever members with the points of the pins in horizontal alignment and the longitudinal axis of the pins being parallel to one another, stop means carried by the stand for limiting the downward movement of said lever members below a position where the points of said pins are in horizontal alignment, spring means for urging said lever members downwardly, a pair of lever operating members fulcrumed to the stand, each of said operating members being operatively connected to an individual lever member by a movable link, whereby movement in the operating member resulting from the force applied to the free end thereof imparts an upward movement in the connected lever member.

5. In a wire-cloth loom having a lay and side frames, a pair of selvage-forming devices carried upon said side frames adjacent the sides of the warp, each of said selvage-forming devices comprising a stand adjustably fastened to a side frame, a pair of lever members fulcrumed on said stand for movement in a vertical plane normal to the lay, a pin carried upon a free end where the Yrear sides fof .the pins carried thereby are in horizontal alignment, the pins being car,- ried upon said lever members with the longitudinal axis thereof being parallel, spring means for urging said lever 'members downwardly, a lever operating member fulcrumed upon said stand and connected through movable links to each of said lever members, whereby movement of the free end of said operating members causes an upward movement in the respective lever member and means carried upon said lay for abutting engagement with the free end of As aid .op. erating members, the operating member iconnected to said largest pin `carrying lever being positioned for contact with said lay carried means before the other operating member.

6. A method of weaving cloth which comprises beatings-up the filling, picking `the lin'g back into 'the shed, While forming a iselvage loop vof predetermined diameter in the yiilling, releasing the stress holding said loop 4atea-id predetermined diameter as the lfilling passes -further into Ythe shed, thereby allowing saidr loop to contract in size, positive stopping the contraction of said loop to Vform a second loop of predetermined diameter of smaller size than -said rst loop size, and 'then completing the picking operation.

DANIEL E. HOUGHTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,124,261 Beard Jan. 12, 1915 y51,388,537 Wethaase, Y Aug. y23, 1921 2,095,576. Shimwell Oct. 1.2, 1937 2,431,978 Alderfer Dec. 2, V194:7

FOREIGN PATENTS ,Number Country Date 133,576 V`(E'rlli Britain QCL 16, 191,9 y ,553,260 Germany June 23, 1932 

